Starting again

[TytoAndy]

following a disaster with my mental and physical health I have had to go back to week 1 , either that or quit , it’s really tough getting out to run , think I will just repeat week 1 till I feel ready to move on , sometimes you have to move back to move forward , thinking of anyone else who is struggling out there , and best wishes to all

[Tasha99 Graduate]

I think that is a great idea although you don’t need to stick with week 1 if you are able to do each session. There’s no point. Just move on. Always reminder to slow down and slow down again. Also, running massively helps me and my mental health. This is my main motivation for running. I have never stopped running at least three times a week for coming up 3 years now as I fear if I stop, I’ll never start again. Use it as a motivator to run.

[Sandraj39 Graduate]

Hi TytoAndy , I gather from your other posts that you have been having knee problems - is this still the case? If it is and it is not improving then it might be adviseable to rest and perhaps get some advice from a physio or GP? It can be so frustrating when we can not run as much as we would like but hopefully you will soon be able to build back up again and feel all the stronger, both mentally and physically. Good luck!🙂

[HexGirl Graduate]

The beauty of C25K is that you can go at your own pace if you need to repeat a week then go for it! Just getting out and running is an achievement in itself no matter how long, short, hard or easy the run may be on the occasions that I went back and repeated runs I just did one run 3 again rather than the whole week. Sometimes just repeating one run is all you need to get you back in gear

[nowster Graduate]

I had knee problems in early January. I overdid it over the new year period (a fast 5km run, a 11km walk and an 8km run within the space of four days). It stopped me running for a fortnight.

When the knee had healed sufficiently that it was no longer painful or tight, I did a few days of progressively longer walks to get things moving properly before starting to run again. That might help you too.

But if the knee is still giving you trouble, don't run. You need someone suitably qualified to prod and poke it to work out what's wrong. See your GP or a physio.

[Readandrun Graduate]

Hi TytoAndy, hope the knee has recovered and you are still managing to get out running. Glad the weather is improving. I started Couch to 5K 3 times for various reasons and the last time I think I did week 2 twice so don't despair. The steps up to week 3 and especially week 4 are the most noticeable and I think I pushed myself too fast at first, then started to believe I couldn't do it. What works best for my motivation is running the same 3 days each calendar week if at all possible. Hope all goes well for you.